The Japanese House - Face Like Thunder

Directed by Gareth Phillips and with cinematography by Ben Coughlan, The Japanese House’s “Face Like Thunder” is subtle yet arrestingly beautiful. The visuals are beautifully rendered and composed, conjuring up a soft, dreamlike aesthetic that blends a sense of nostalgia with mild melancholy.

The sense of nostalgia is delivered mostly by the song itself, which carries a nice throwback quality that’s reminiscent of 80’s pop, and will also bring to mind other modern day revivalist acts such as Shura and label-mate The 1975 (whom the director has incidentally also worked with). Even the location seems to somehow just fit, making the video seem less like something new, and more like some rediscovered relic from a bygone age.

But all this is really just an attempt at quantifying the unquantifiable. “Face Like Thunder” feels good, looks good and sounds good; sometimes that’s just all there is to it.